Tell Me Why
by loudmouthgeek
Summary: At Sectionals Rachel stuck up for Santana. Santana wants to know why. Established but lapsed Britberrytana friendship. Rated T for Santana's potty mouth.
1. Fallout

**Disclaimer: I own neither Glee nor any part thereof. No money is being made off of this story and is intended only for entertainment purposes; therefore it falls within the parameters of "Fair Use"**

**A/N: So I took some time off writing because I'd been going non-stop for the better part of five months, but I got out of my groove and I was having trouble writing. This was a writing exercise to get myself going again. It's probably going to be a two or three chapter thing.**

**Chapter One**

**Fallout**

It was the first day of school after New Directions' win at Sectionals and Rachel Berry still had her head in the clouds. It was their first victory as a group and she had been instrumental in that victory. Her performance of "Don't Rain on My Parade" was one of her best performances she'd ever given and it was done on the fly, no less. Rachel was certain that on the slim chance that Barbara herself ever saw that performance that she would be impressed. To top that off the boy of her dreams, Finn Hudson was newly single, largely through her hurtful machinations Rachel remembered, so she figured it best to wait a week or so before going after him.

Having thirty minutes before homeroom, Rachel made her way into the school auditorium her mind set on mastering at least two more songs that she could have ready at a moment's notice should a similar situation arise at Regionals. Once inside, Rachel was surprised and more than a little puzzled to see, of all people Santana Lopez standing on the stage. The Latina Cheerio wasn't doing anything, she wasn't singing or practicing any dance steps, she was just standing there with her arms wrapped around herself. She was waiting… presumably on Rachel since most everyone knew this was the best place to find her at this time of day. Her hair was down, Rachel noticed. Outside of Glee performances, it was the first time in years that Rachel had seen it like that, definitely the first time she'd seen her long, beautiful raven hair paired with her Cheerios uniform.

Rachel made her way towards the stage without speaking. Santana spotted her about halfway down the aisle. The girls' eyes met and yet still neither of them spoke until Rachel reached the top step and stepped onto the stage when she simply said, "Santana."

"Berry," Santana replied.

Her response was shocking to Rachel, firstly because Santana had actually used one of her names instead of the horrible nicknames that the Cheerios flung at her routinely and also because there was no anger in her voice, no sarcasm, no spite. Rachel had heard that voice before but not in years. "What can I do for you today, Santana?"

"Tell me why," Santana said.

"You'll have to be a lot more specific than that, Santana, if you wish for me to understand what it is you're talking about."

Santana sighed loudly and then said, "Saturday, at Sectionals, you stuck up for me. Why?"

Rachel stared hard at Santana for a long moment her expression not giving anything away. "Keeping a promise to a friend," Rachel said dismissively as she moved past the girl to go sit at the piano.

"So you didn't mean it, then? It was just stupid, misguided loyalty?" asked Santana with obvious pain in her voice. It was the first hint that Rachel had that this Santana was just a front, that an emotional person still existed within this suit of armor.

"Of course, I meant it!" Rachel yelled back over her shoulder before swiveling around and standing back up. "I said it, didn't I? That means I meant it. I can understand where you could forget this since all of your so-called friends on the Cheerios, with the exception of Brittany, are lying, two-faced, deceitful, horrible human beings, but I am not them and I'd _thank you_ to remember that, if nothing else. While you may be content to forget that we used to be friends, Santana, I have not, and you seem content to have broken the promise that we made to always have each other's back no matter what, I have not and will not. I promised you that I would always help in whatever way I could, and I am a woman of my word. I stuck up for you because I know how loyal you are… usually, and I know if you truly desired to sabotage Glee Club all you had to do was simply not show up to Sectionals, but you did."

The air was silent and heavy between them for a very, _very _long moment. "Thank you," Santana said softly, staring intently at the floor before looking into the shorter girl's big brown eyes, "Thank you for being a better friend than I deserve." Santana dropped her gaze once more. "If it makes you feel any better, I miss hanging with you."

"Really?" Rachel sounded on the verge of excitement at the confession though she was trying her best to cover it with skepticism.

"Yeah," Santana confirmed. She smiled slightly, "I miss dancing like idiots in our bedrooms listening to Avril and JLo. I miss movie nights and… fucking all of it. You…" Her smile grew bigger. "Do you remember when we were going to go see Little Miss Sunshine?"

"And you and Brittany dragged me, literally, into the theater for Jackass, instead? Yes, I have vivid recollections of that horrible excuse for a film," Rachel rolled her eyes but smiled in spite of herself.

"I miss that. I want that back," Santana said softly, almost afraid to voice it for fear of Rachel's reaction because she knew she didn't deserve it back.

"The only thing that's stopping us is you," Rachel replied.

Rachel's words nearly knocked her down. She had absolutely no idea what to think. "You just forgive me for being horrible? Just like that?"

"Assuming you actually get around to apologizing for it, why wouldn't I? Santana you're my oldest friend. I may be hurt by the way that you've treated me for the last two years but I love you dearly. Of course, I'm going to jump at the chance to have you back in my life."

"I'm... I'm sorry, B... Rachel," Santana tripped over her words, "I... I should have been a better friend to you. I should have had your back… like we promised. Forgive me? Please."

"Gladly," Rachel said without a second thought, "Would you like to come to my house for dinner this evening? My fathers would absolutely love to see you again. They ask about you frequently."

"That sounds great," Santana said, "but just so I know, how much groveling am I going to have to do?"

"None."

"Really? After the slushies and the name calling and all that, they aren't _royally_ pissed at me?"

"They don't know," Rachel said, "or rather they do know but don't know that you were a part of it." Santana looked at her in surprise. "I told you, I have your back. I'll spend my life protecting you however I can, even if that means protecting you from yourself."

"But you tell them everything," Santana said.

"I relate to them the day's events certainly, but I don't describe every moment of my life in minute detail with laundry lists of every single person that has done me wrong. So I left out your involvement in some rather unpleasant events to spare them the heartache of being disappointed in someone they love like family and if I'm being completely honest, I'd always hoped that this day would come and I wanted there to be no awkwardness between you and them which might disrupt the restoration of our friendship."

Santana smiled as she shook her head, "You're way too good to me, Rachel Berry." Rather than respond, Rachel just moved in to hug the taller girl who accepted the embrace. She buried her face in the crook of Santana's neck. It had been far too long since she had hugged anyone whose body fit hers so well. Finn and both of her fathers were too tall, but being wrapped up in Santana's strong arms she felt good. She was reminded of a thousand other firm hugs from age six up until just a couple years ago. Rachel always felt safe with Santana.

"I like your hair better down," Rachel mumbled softly.

"Me, too," Santana replied, "but crazy ass Sylvester doesn't leave me any choice."

"Thank you, Santana," Rachel said.

Santana pulled back slightly to look at Rachel thoroughly confused, "For what?"

"For apologizing, for still wanting to be my friend, I've missed you as well," Rachel said. She leaned back in to give Santana a small friendly peck on the cheek like a thousand others they had shared. Santana always smiled whenever Rachel did that, every single time. Santana returned the peck to Rachel while laughing. Rachel gave Santana one more, and then Santana kissed her back, only this time it wasn't a peck and it wasn't on the cheek.

Santana knew that she should stop, that she had just gotten her friendship with Rachel back. She shouldn't be risking it by doing what they were doing but Rachel's lips were really soft against hers and Rachel was making no move to stop her. Quite the opposite, in fact, Rachel trailed a hand up Santana's back, through her thick hair until it gripped the back of Santana's neck and pulled the Latina harder against her. Santana opted to chance it and slid her tongue along Rachel's lips in silent request for entry.

Before Rachel could accept, the first bell of the day rang and broke the spell over the two. They broke apart suddenly and Santana looked at Rachel in fear that the smaller girl was going to be upset with her. "Rachel, I…" For once in her life, Santana didn't know what to say.

Rachel smiled and said, "It's okay, Tana. Don't stress about it. However, you are now most certainly coming to dinner tonight." Santana agreed with a silent nod. "Walk with me to homeroom?"

"Lead the way, Rae," she replied.

**X X X X X**

Second period Santana had Spanish with Brittany and she found herself hurrying to class to save Brittany and herself seats. She grabbed two in the back and waited although it wasn't long before the bubbly girl found her way into the room and up to her. "Hey, San!" said Brittany excitedly as she sat, "Mom's making pot roast tonight for dinner. You wanna come over? We can get our sweet lady kisses on until dinner?"

"Actually, Britt, I've already got other plans… with Rachel." Brittany's eyes went wide in surprise, and then smiled excitedly. "What?" asked Santana.

"You called her Rachel!"

"That's her name," Santana said.

"Yeah, but you totally haven't called her that for a long time, since we joined Cheerios, I think. Did..." Brittany paused almost afraid to ask the question for fear of ruining whatever peace there may be between the two girls, but she had to know. "Did you guys finally make up?"

Santana smiled slightly, "Yeah, we did."

"Thank God," Brittany said, "I was getting so tired of pretending like me and Rachey weren't friend anymore."

"Yeah, you can go back to being her friend, too. I'm sure she'd love to hang with you again."

"I can't go back to being her friend," Brittany said.

"What? Why not?" questioned Santana.

"Because I never _stopped_ being her friend," Brittany said, "I mean, I know you told me you wanted me to but I also knew deep down you didn't want me to, because if you stopped being her friend and then I stopped being her friend, she like wouldn't have any friends left and that would be totally sad, so we were ninja friends."

Santana looked confused, "Ninja friends?"

"Yeah, you know how like ninjas are totally sneaky?" asked Brittany. Santana just nodded still confused, "Well me and Rachey have been sneaky friends. We have dance classes together and we always go out for pie and ice cream after, plus I go with her and Uncle Hiram to Temple on most Saturdays, and I'm totally sorry for lying to you but I just didn't want Rachey to be alone, y'know?"

"I do," Santana said, "and I'm glad you were there for her. I'm sorry for being a butthead and making you guys sneak around."

"It's totally okay," Brittany said, "so are you gonna tell her?"

"Tell her what?"

"About you and her and why you stopped talking to her."

Once again Santana looked at her best friend confused, "I… I don't know what you're talking about."

"C'mon, San, I remember how you use to look at her, how you still look at her sometimes when you think people aren't looking."

"What about us? Me and you?" asked Santana.

"Sex isn't dating, San. We had sexy times because it's fun and we're both good at it. We're besties, nothing's gonna change that."

"Won't you miss our sweet lady kisses?" asked Santana teasingly.

"Oh totally!" responded Brittany, "but I heard that Artie and Tina broke up, so…"

Santana hitched an eyebrow at her. "You're gonna go after Artie?"

"Um, maybe," Brittany said, "but only if Tina says no first."

Santana was surprised at first but seemed to contemplate it for a minute before shrugging her shoulders and saying, "Bitch does sort of rock the shit out her vampire look."

"And I've sorta always wondered what it would be like to kiss a vampire," Brittany said with a huge smile on her face.

Santana couldn't help but smile at her best friend's enthusiasm and earnestness. "Then I guess there's nothing left to do but for us to go get our girls."

**X X X X X**

The rest of the day passed without incident. Either Santana or Brittany or both were around Rachel in between every class, Santana wanted to make up for lost time, Brittany was just happy that she and Rachel didn't have to hide their friendship anymore. In Glee the Cheerios made a point of flanking Rachel when they sat together. Whispered conversations and stifled laughter came from their part of the room for the entire hour. Virtually everyone in the room was hugely confused at the sight. Though Artie, Mike, and Puck had known the girls in middle school when they were a giggly, inseparable trio, all three of them had changed so much since that time it seemed odd to see them back together as though no time had passed and nothing had changed between them.

After Glee Brittany and Santana had Cheerios practice but the risked the wrath of Sue Sylvester to walk with Rachel to the auditorium. Rachel invited Brittany to dinner with them because it would be rude to do otherwise, but Brittany said that she and Santana had lots of things to talk about tonight but she'd be happy to come some other night. The three girls made plans for a sleepover the following weekend.

An hour and forty five minutes later The Cheerios were dismissed early because Sue was still chasing down every last bag of Hot Cheetos and she'd received an anonymous tip, a tip that may or may not have come from one Rachel Berry. They found Rachel exactly where they left her, in the auditorium practicing. They loaded into Santana's car and they dropped Brittany off at her house first. She departed the group with her typical bone breaking hug.

Only a few minutes later they arrived at the Berry house, and despite Rachel's assurances that the men inside weren't aware of her poor treatment of their daughter, Santana was apprehensive about going inside. She had no chance to express it though as before she really knew what was happening, Rachel was dragging by the hand towards the front door. Santana remembered that Rachel sporadically had super strength when the situation demanded it. Before she knew it, they were through the front door and Rachel said, "Daddies, we're home!"

"In the kitchen, sweetie," the booming voice of Leroy Berry called back.

Rachel looked back to Santana and said, "I thought I'd surprise them with your presence at dinner, so let me do all the talking and see how long it takes for him to look up from making dinner to notice you're here." Santana gave a short nod and the pair walked wordlessly into the kitchen. Santana walked to the far wall and leaned against it silently. Rachel stood between her daddy and Santana.

"How was school?" asked Leroy.

"Refreshingly wonderful for a change," Rachel replied, "All of my homework is done already. We had a quiz in AP US History for which I was more than prepared."

"So I take it you passed, then?"

"I am reasonably sure that not only did I pass but that I scored 100% on it. Oh, Daddy, how thoughtless of me. I invited a friend to join us for dinner, I hope that's okay."

"That's fine, hon. Do I know this friend?"

"Very well," Rachel said using everything in her acting repertoire to keep from laughing.

"It's not that big dopey kid, is it… what was his name, Flipper?"

Now it was Santana's turn to try desperately to suppress laughter, going so far as to clap her hand over her mouth to muffle the sounds coming from her involuntarily. Rachel eyed her as she said, "His name is Finn, Daddy, and as you don't even know him well enough to recall his first name properly then he would not qualify as someone that you know very well, now would he?"

"Well, honey, under that qualifier the answer could only be Brittany, and since I wasn't attack hugged the moment you girls walked in the door, I can only ask what time she's going to her here. This is generally what time she gets here after Cheerios practice."

"Although I invited her as well, our guest this evening is not Brittany," Rachel said.

"Well then, who…" Leroy finally turned from the food he was preparing and was stunned silent to see the young Latina woman standing in his kitchen.

"Hey, Mr. Berry," Santana said.

Leroy shook of the surprise and said, "You knock that 'Mr. Berry' crap off, young lady. You may not have been around in a while but I'm still your Uncle Leroy. Now get over here and give me a hug." Santana complied with the large man's demands and he hugged her tighter than she'd ever been hugged and considering her best friend's propensity for tight hugs that was truly saying something. "It's really good to see you again, Tana."

The door from the garage opened and closed and Hiram Berry called out, "Dad's home!" He turned the corner into the kitchen to see his husband hugging someone with extremely beautiful long black hair. That was all he could see around Leroy's rather large arms. "Who's this?" She raised her head from Leroy's chest and looked in the other man's direction. "Santana?" he asked almost as if he didn't believe that it was really her, and admittedly she had changed a lot since the days when Rachel and her two best friends use to run all over the house together, but it was still pretty obviously still her. "Santana Christina Maria Lopez, where have you been for the last two years?" He asked with a smile.

"Hi, Uncle Hiram," she said.

Hiram looked at his husband and said, "Maybe she can help you dispose of that mountain of dead animal flesh in our refrigerator."

"Yes," he responded releasing Santana and turning to the fridge throwing the doors open. He grabbed a white paper package and turned back. "Santana, tell me you didn't go vegan like these two. Please tell me that I'm not the only meat eater in the house anymore."

"Call me a carnivore," she said.

"Outstanding, then you and I will be having some delicious porterhouse steaks while Rachel and Hiram nibble on vegetables. What do you say?"

"I say hell yeah!" exclaimed Santana.


	2. History and The Future

**Disclaimer: I own neither Glee nor any part thereof. No money is being made off of this story and is intended only for entertainment purposes; therefore it falls within the parameters of "Fair Use"**

**A/N: Thanks to everyone that read and reviewed the first chapter. I'm glad you enjoyed. I hope you all enjoy this as well. You may want to break out your Google Translate, there's a lot of untranslated Spanish herein.**

**Chapter 2**

**History and The Future**

"Sannie, can you come down here?" Armando Lopez called up the stairs.

Six year old, gap toothed Santana Lopez opened the door to her bedroom and shouted back, "One second, Papa!"

"Bring Brittany with you when you come, please." A moment later the music blasting from the girl's bedroom stopped and Santana quickly came bounding down the staircase followed quickly by her gangly, skinny, snaggle toothed best friend. "Santana, Brittany this is a friend of mine that I haven't seen since med school. This is Leroy Berry and this," he pointed at the tiny, smiling little girl on his lap, "is his little girl, Rachel. They just moved to town. Rachel, this is my daughter Santana and her friend Brittany."

"Hello," Rachel said.

"Hi," Brittany spoke first, "You're really pretty."

The tiny girl blushed and scooted her way off of her father's lap. "Thank you, Brittany. That's very kind of you to say," Rachel replied as she came to stand with the other girls across the room. "You're quite pretty, as well."

Brittany's eyes had gone wide while Rachel was talking. "Whoa," she said, "you sound really smart, too." The frizzy haired blonde girl noticed the sizable height difference between them and continued, "How old are you?"

"I am six years old," Rachel answered, "How old are you?"

"I'm six, too!" responded Brittany excitedly. "So is San. Oh, this is Santana. She's usually not this quiet. So you're gonna be in our grade. Do you know what teacher you're gonna have?"

Rachel shook her head and looked at Leroy, "Daddy, do you know who my teacher is at my new school?"

"I believe they said her name was a Miss Melbourne," he responded.

Brittany's face lit up and she practically yelled, "She's totally our teacher! You're in our class!"

"Brittany," Armando admonished, "inside voices, honey."

"Sorry, Papa," she said.

"It's okay, honey," he replied with a smile when the little blonde girl called him Papa. "Maybe you girls want to go play upstairs in Santana's room? We're just going to be talking about boring grown-up stuff down here."

"Totally," she said to Armando before turning her attention back to Rachel, "San has the coolest room. You gotta come and see." Brittany, not waiting for answer, seized both brunettes by the hands and dragged them bodily up the stairs and into Santana's bedroom. As soon as the girls were in, Rachel saw that Brittany was absolutely right, this room was awesome. There were posters everywhere, a bookcase full of books and CDs, two racks of movies, one full of tapes, the other full of DVDs… and a TV. Santana had her own TV in her room. Rachel thought that was the coolest thing she had ever seen.

Brittany went and flung herself on Santana's bed leaving the other girls standing by the doorway. "So Rachel, where is your mommy?" asked Brittany, "Is she at work? My mommy's at work. She works a lot, that's why I'm at San's all the time."

"I don't know my mom," Rachel said sadly, "I've never met her, but I have two daddies," she said proudly.

Santana looked at her confused, but once again said nothing. Brittany, however, flashed a huge smile and said, "Two daddies? Does that mean you get twice as many piggy back rides?"

Rachel was glad that Brittany seemed to be excited about Rachel's having two fathers. A lot of times when she told people about that part of her life they would get quiet and then stop talking to her. She didn't understand why and she tried not to let it upset her, but sometimes it did. "I love piggy back rides," Rachel said with a smile, "and I do get a lot of them."

"That's totally cool," Brittany said. "It's kinda sad that you don't have a mom, but San has the best mom, and she tells me all the time to call her mamá, like San calls her and she calls me 'mija' which is like Spanish for daughter, maybe she'll let you call her Mama and call you 'mija' too. Then you'll have a mom and we can all be sisters and besties." Rachel smiled even bigger at this. Brittany finally noticed that Santana still hadn't spoken. "San, you're being weird. Stop not saying things."

Santana looked down and then at Rachel before finally saying softly, "Do you like The Powerpuff Girls?"

Rachel smiled and started to answer but was interrupted by Brittany pushing herself up on her knees, sticking both arms up in the air and saying, "Sugar!"

Santana followed suit saying, "Spice!"

Both girls looked to Rachel who bit her bottom lip in excitement before mimicking the other girls' actions and say, "And Everything Nice!"

**X X X X X**

"Rachel. Hey, Rachel!" Santana was almost to the point of shouting. The girls were sitting Santana's Sequoia parked in the driveway of the Lopez House. Dinner at the Berry House had gone smashingly. There was laughter and smiles all around. Santana felt insanely guilty for lying to the men about her part in Rachel's treatment at school and she knew that sometime soon she was going to have to sit down with her favorite uncles and confess and throw herself at their mercies, but she also knew that tonight she just wanted to enjoy having her friend back. Shortly after dinner Santana called her mother, having neglected to tell her that she wouldn't be home for dinner. Her mom told her to bring herself home and to bring her other daughter with her. Santana hadn't clarified where she was and opted to leave it as a surprise. "You were seriously gone there for like five minutes," Santana said to Rachel, "Where did you go?"

"Not where," Rachel corrected with a crooked smile, "When. I was daydreaming about the first time I was ever here."

"Heh," Santana chuckled, "Playing Powerpuff Girls?"

"It's too bad we didn't make up sooner," Rachel said, "We could have been Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup for Halloween again this year. That would have been great fun, although we may have had resort to making our own costumes. There probably aren't a lot adult sized Powerpuff Girls costumes."

"We wouldn't have let that stop us," Santana said confidently.

"No, of course not," Rachel agreed. "Remember in third grade when we _finally_ convinced Daddy to be Professor Utonium?" Both girls cackled in laughter, their heads rolling towards one another. When they opened their eyes they found themselves staring deeply into each others' eyes. Rachel unconsciously ran her tongue over her bottom lip but a second before she could lean in for another kiss Santana popped the driver's side door open.

"Come on," the Latina called from outside the vehicle, "Mama's waiting." Rachel couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed, but the disappointment was quickly replaced by the excitement at seeing Santana's parents again. She quickly exited the truck and made her way quickly up the walk catching up with Santana who had stopped at the front door. "Mama doesn't know you're coming. She thinks I was at Brittany's. I didn't correct her so that we can surprise her." Rachel smiled mischievously, as Santana pushed through the door saying, "Mama, we're home."

"In the den," Maria Lopez called back. The girls made their way down the hall. Rachel was careful to make as little noise as possible remembering that Brittany always treads lightly instinctively, the result of years of dancing training.

"Hey, Mama," Santana said walking into the den to stand in front of her mother sitting on the couch, "sorry about dinner, we got to talking and I didn't even think."

"Brittany, you were supposed to text me when she forgets about her mamá," Maria said without looking up.

Rachel, leaning against the doorframe, looked to Santana who nodded back to her slightly. "Brittany's not here," she said smiling as Maria snapped her attention to the familiar voice, a look of complete and utter shock on her face, "and I was not aware of this arrangement or I would _surely_ have texted you."

Maria was off the couch in a second, "Mija Rachel," she said as if she wasn't sure the girl was really there, "vienen aquí ahora." Rachel did as instructed and walked into the den and was met halfway by the older Latina. Maria grabbed the tiny girl and wrapped her up in a hug that would have made Brittany proud. "Oh, cómo te he echado, mi querida!"

"Yo también, mamá," Rachel said thoroughly enjoying the warm sensation in her chest, happy tears collecting her eyes at the embrace of the only mother she'd ever known, "yo también!"

"You two catch up," Santana said, "I'm gonna go change out of this uniform." She turned and walked out of the room in the certainty that neither of them had heard a word she just said.

After a few minutes of both of them enjoying the firm hug, Maria pushed Rachel back gently to look her in the face. She ran her hand down the length of Rachel's hair bringing it to rest on the girl's shoulder. "Mira cómo has crecido en esta hermosa joven." She cupped both of Rachel cheeks in her hands and added, "Te amo, Rachel."

The tears that Rachel had been keeping check were loose and running down her cheeks in an instant as Rachel pulled her back into another big hug. Maria brought one hand up to hold the smaller girl's head against her chest firmly. "Te quiero, mamá," Rachel responded softly, the sound and the feeling of Maria's heart beating against her head the most soothing thing she could ever remember experiencing. A couple minutes of shared silence later Rachel spoke again, "Pero no te preocupes," she looked up, locking the inquisitive eyes of Maria, "no importa lo grande que puede conseguir, nunca voy a superar su cocina maravillosa."

Maria cut loose with a huge laugh at this, taking Rachel by the hand leading her out of the den and said, "Ven aquí. Hice mi salsa al igual que siempre te ha gustado."

"Con patatas fritas caseras?" asked Rachel as they made their way into the kitchen.

Maria opened the refrigerator and called back over her shoulder, "Usted sabe la respuesta a esa pregunta. She pointed at a bowl on the counter covered plastic wrap, which Rachel quickly retrieved.

"Yes, of course, I do," Rachel said as she pulled the plastic wrap off the chips while Maria opened the Tupperware with the famous Lopez Family Salsa in it. They both dug in.

"I'm glad to see you've kept up you Spanish, young lady."

"Well, I had to," Rachel said. Maria cast an inquisitive look her way. "I had to be able to hold up my end of a conversation with my mamá," Rachel explained with a smile.

"I do speak English, sweetheart, pretty well, in fact."

"Obviously," said Rachel, "but I enjoy our conversations in Spanish. It's something special just between us. Brittany and Santana are both fluent but we always speak in English. It's like when my dad and I speak Hebrew to one another."

Maria chuckled once again, "Ay Dios Mio, Rachel how many languages do you speak?"

"Four," she said, "English, Spanish, Hebrew, and Brittany." Maria laughed again at this. Her laughter was almost always infectious and soon Rachel was laughing uncontrollably. Once they calmed back down, Rachel wiped tears from her eyes once again, "Echaba de menos esta gran. Mamá, I'm so sorry I haven't been around to see you."

"If I understand the situation, mija, Tana didn't really give you much choice in the matter."

Rachel shrugged slightly while staring hard at the salsa bowl, "I managed to maintain a relationship with Brittany in spite of Santana's attitude. I should have made more effort with you as well."

"You and Brittany go to school together, Brittany doesn't have a job, and as much as it may feel otherwise sometimes, Brittany doesn't live here in the same house with Santana, but I accept your apology and offer mine in return, since I should have made the effort as well and didn't." Rachel hugged her with one arm, resting her head on Maria's shoulder while she continued her assault on the salsa bowl with her free hand. "Usted sabe, yo estaba en su exposición el sábado."

Rachel looked up at her and asked excitedly, "En serio?"

Maria nodded. "Que eran impresionantes, niña. Estoy muy orgulloso de ti, Rachel."

"Gracias, mamá, eso significa mucho," Rachel beamed.

"Hey, there you guys are," Santana said. She'd located them several minutes earlier but decided to let them have their moment before finally walking into the kitchen to join the pair. She'd changed into a pair of gray yoga pants and loose fitting white t-shirt. She'd also taken her contacts out, opting for her glasses. This was the Santana that Rachel was use to hanging out with. "Oh, sweet, salsa!" she said.

**X X X X X**

"I'm sorry," Santana said once they were alone in Santana's bedroom.

"You said that, already," Rachel replied as she flopped over backwards onto Santana's giggling to herself at the memory of doing the same hundreds of times in the past. Rachel was thoroughly loving being back in the Lopez house, dozens of wonderful memories rushing back to her.

"Yeah, but that was for being a bitch to you," Santana clarified while sitting down next to Rachel on the bed. "Now I'm sorry for taking that away from you. I forgot… or maybe just didn't want to remember… how close the two of you are. I'm sorry for taking away the only mother you've ever known."

Rachel scrunched her eyes shut and said, "Thank you for giving her back to me, Santana."

Santana scoffed in surprise. She certainly hadn't been expecting that response, but in retrospect she figured she probably should have. She lay down staring up at the ceiling and said, "Um, you're welcome, and listen, no matter what happens between us, if we end up friends for life once again or if we fall out again tomorrow, you don't ever have to stop talking to her again, okay?"

"Really?" Rachel smiled in relief, turning to face the girl next to her.

"Yeah," she said pausing for a long moment before continuing, "She's your mama, too. She loves you like a daughter. It's not fair to either of you that you can't have a relationship because of me. Same goes for Britt, if for whatever reason we don't work our shit out, you guys don't have to hide your friendship from me."

"And why exactly," Rachel began, "wouldn't we work our… shit out?"

Santana chuckled at the sound of Rachel cussing but fell quiet again remaining silent for a minute before saying, "Because of, uh…"

When Santana trailed off, Rachel sat up and looked down at Santana still lying down, "Because of the kiss?" she asked.

Santana ran her hands through her long hair while taking a long, calming breath in through her nose and out through her mouth before speaking, "It's more to do with what the kiss means."

"What does it mean?" Rachel asked, "I mean it doesn't _have_ to mean anything. If it's going to be a burden on our friendship, then we can gladly forget that it happened. This has been the best day I've had in years. I deeply wish it to not be the only one we have, so if that means ignoring that one little kiss…"

"I can't ignore it, Rachel," Santana said obviously trying to maintain an even tone.

"Why not?"

Santana finally sat up and looked Rachel in the eyes, "Because I've wanted to kiss you for a _long_ time now."

Rachel Berry prided herself on being prepared for all eventualities. She had contingency plans for her contingency plans. She routinely worked up charts and even whole Power Point presentations to go along with these plans. She had speeches written for when she won her first Grammy, Tony, Emmy, and Oscar. She also had her brief congratulatory speeches written for the slim chance that she didn't win those awards once nominated. In all that preparation, however, Rachel had not worked up a plan for what to do should her best friend since second grade confess to wanting to kiss her, especially since said best friend had spent the last year and a half harassing her and making her life hell. As such, she was fairly certain she was staring at the girl like an idiot with her mouth hanging open. She may have even been drooling. God, don't let her have been drooling. "Y-You…" she sputtered out briefly before that train of thought departed without her. "I… I… I was… _not_ expecting you to say that," she said lamely. "W-Wh-Why…." There were suppose to be more words attached to that one but they didn't come.

"Um, because, goober, I kinda like you." Santana quickly shook her head and quickly corrected herself, "Not kinda, I do. I like you… a lot."

"I… I wasn't actually meaning to ask why you wanted to kiss me," Rachel said, the ability to properly string words together returning to her, "although I understand that's how it sounded. What I had intended to ask was why the… the last year and a half?" She was trying to enquire without invoking guilt. She hoped Santana understood that.

"Because I fucked it all up!" the Latina growled, throwing herself back down onto the bed in anger at herself.

"That will need more clarification," Rachel said,

"Yeah," Santana said, "I know." She pressed the palm of her hand against her forehead, closing her eyes. Rachel wasn't entirely sure what Santana was doing but she opted not to push and let her come out with it in her own time. "It was supposed to be for you, both of you, you and Brittany. You know Izzy went to McKinley, right?" Rachel nodded. Isobel Lopez was Santana's cousin and six years older than them. "She used to tell me about all the horror stories of McKinley, things that we've since experienced for ourselves. She told me about how jocks and cheerleaders treated outcasts and losers, and you know how we were in middle school. You were… well, pretty much you. You talk a lot, you're obsessed with Broadway, you have a _unique_ fashion sense… and you have two dads. No matter how hard you tried otherwise, you were going to get labeled an outcast. Brittany, God love her, before you started taking her to dance class with you, she was awkward and skinny and braces and frizzy hair. Who would have guessed she'd turn into a beautiful swan over that summer? And then there was me. You know how I was. I was, well, like this." Santana pointed to herself, "Baggy clothes and glasses and my stupid curly hair. That messenger bag that I took everywhere and that worn out copy of The History of the World by J.M. Roberts. I was fucking scared to death of what would happen when Queen Broadway, the awkward, flighty girl, and Tana the history nerd walked into that school freshman year."

Santana stopped to run her under her eyes and then up to her temples. She continued, "I mean I didn't really care what they did to me. I knew I could take care of myself, but you two…" She shook her head. "It scared me to death and more and more I found my thoughts and concerns going more to you than to Britt. I tried to tell myself that it was because you were tiny and that people stood a better chance of actually hurting you, but even then I knew that was fucked up and backwards because you already knew how shitty people could be. Brittany was the wide eyed innocent one. If anyone, I should have been more concerned about her. Since I've generally never been one to live with my head up my ass, I had to face facts that I had feelings for you."

"So you joined Cheerios to… escape? Deny?"

Santana sighed and sat back up once more. "That's basically what ended up happening, but that wasn't the plan. The plan was that I was going to join Cheerios, get to the top of social pyramid, and then I'd be able to protect you. So I started straightening my hair and buying clothes out of fashion magazines so I could fit in with the Cheerios. I told Brittany the plan and she got really excited about the idea of joining the squad and said she wanted to do it too, and I figured what the hell? Two Cheerios could protect you better than one anyway. The flaw in that logic became clear really quickly and I had to spend all my time protecting Brittany _from_ the Cheerios. Pretty soon rumors got around the locker room about me and Brittany, and Sylvester told us in absolutely no uncertain terms that you can't be a Cheerio and be gay. Fucking booster club homophobia bullshit." Santana rolled her eyes. "But even after all that, I thought if I could make Captain, I could still protect you. Even if I couldn't be with you, I could still protect you and anyone who wanted to know why could go fuck themselves, but that plan was shot to hell because fucking Quinn Fabray was a legacy. She made Captain over me, so I was stuck at number two which basically means doing whatever the hell she says and she had a perfect Catholic girl image to uphold. I thought if I waited she'd eventually fuck up and I could oust her."

"And she did," Rachel interjected, "you've been Head Cheerio for over a month now."

"I lost sight of my goal a while back, Rachel. Look, I'm not telling you all of this to try to excuse all the horrible shit I've done to you. There is no excuse for victimizing someone you love. I just…"

"Love?" Rachel questioned.

"You know I love you, Rachel, just like you love me. Am I in love with you? I don't know." Rachel nodded in understand. "Like I said, not making excuses, I just wanted you to know what my intentions were and where and why it went wrong. It's just… after months of just fucking all of them gunning for you, I… I think I gave up hope that I could ever turn it around. You were too big of a target for too long, I didn't think I could call them off, so I gave up and gave in."

"I guess I get that," Rachel said.

"You do?" Santana asked skeptically, "Because I lived it, and I barely get it."

"You transformed yourself in an attempt to do something incredibly sweet," Rachel explained, "and it blew up in your face. It would be natural to be somewhat lost after that. What I don't get, Tana," Rachel's tone shifted dramatically, "what I don't get is why you started sleeping with everyone in sight. You use to have so much respect for yourself. What happened?"

"The rumors of my promiscuity have been greatly exaggerated," Santana smiled at herself for pulling out and paraphrasing Mark Twain. Rachel on the other hand just looked confused. "The last week of eighth grade I got curious about things and I offered to give Kevin Jernigan a handjob under the bleachers after school. I really didn't see what the big fuss was. Halloween freshman year, I got drunk and let Matt Rutherford fuck me at a football party and it was just awful. As a cheerleader, you can have one of two reputations: wholesome goody-goody like Quinn was or the big slut. I wasn't the first one anymore so other guys started asking but I said no but I said they could tell people we did. I couldn't tell you why I did that, except that it meant they owed me. Eventually Puck developed his reputation and we hooked up a couple times this past summer and it was… okay. He got the job done. I didn't love it or him. After that I started to face some more facts."

"Like what?"

"Having feelings for you was one thing, but that I didn't really like any of the boys I was hanging with and sex with boys didn't excite me much. It became pretty obvious that I was gay, so once again I got curious and I…" Santana trailed off. She'd come this far, but she didn't know how Rachel would react to this last big revelation. Her hitched eyebrow told Santana that she wasn't getting away with not saying it. "I had sex with Brittany."

"With Brittany?" Rachel repeated, the shock in her voice almost covered up the little bit of hurt buried in there, but Santana still caught it.

"I know, from your point of view it's hugely fucked up. I want to be with you so I go off and bang your best friend," Santana said raising both hands up in front of her trying to keep the tiny diva from getting even more upset, "but you've gotta understand, it wasn't like that. I didn't know until today that you and Britt were still friends and I wasn't using her to replace you, I swear. As fucked up as my head has been lately, I'd never do that to you or Britt."

"Then why?" Rachel was still clearly struggling to maintain her composure.

"Because I had to know if I could… Okay, look, I don't have the balls to sniff out another teenage lesbian, if she even exists, much less pursue her, in the tiny little homophobic hellhole of a town, but I thought there was maybe like a one-in-a-million shot that you might reciprocate my feelings, and in that slim chance I had to know if I could… get a girl off."

Rachel couldn't help but laugh at the confession, "So you were preparing for what you assume to be the remote possibility that I'd consent to sexual intercourse with you?"

"Uh, yeah," Santana replied, Rachel smirked, "What you're like the damned queen of plans. You have plans for the possibility of a zombie outbreak. I can't do a little prep work of my own?"

"Is that what you call it?"

"Yes, damnit," Santana spat out, "Is it so hard to imagine that I want you so badly that I wanted to make sure that on the slim chance that you were ever willing, that I was damn well going to be able? Seriously, I thought my having a plan would score me major point in your book."

"Maybe it would if all your planning didn't revolve around sex," Rachel said with a hint of playfulness in her voice.

Santana smiled a lopsided smile, "I may or may not have other non-sexual plans, too." She was hesitant to get her hopes up, but she couldn't help but infer things from what Rachel was saying and what she wasn't saying. Santana couldn't help but notice that Rachel wasn't saying no, which wasn't quite as good as a yes, but it was far better than she felt like she had any right to expect.

"Thank you for talking about all this with me, Tana," Rachel instinctively reverted back to her nickname for the Latina from their youth. "I know you've never been one to have long, in-depth conversations about emotional things."

Santana just shrugged. "Kinda owed you big time."

Rachel nodded. "Still I appreciate it. Now as to what I'm certain you are dying to hear, if I'm being honest about the situation, then I'd have to say that I'd never thought about you _in that way_ before…"

"It's cool, Rach," Santana interrupted, "Honestly, I'm happy as shit just to have my friend back. I can deal…"

"Santana!" Rachel cut back in, perhaps a bit too loudly, "Can you, just this once, listen without interrupting all the time?" Santana figured the best way to answer that question was to not answer it. "Good, now as I was trying to say, I've never thought of you that way before today, but… that kiss this morning was… phenomenal." Santana's eyes lit up and a bright smile was instantly stretched across her face. She dared to hope. "It was… I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I really wanted to kiss you again in your car when we got here."

"I know," Santana said, "I did too, but I didn't want mamá coming out and finding us making out in the car. I didn't want that to be how you two were re-introduced."

"Yes," Rachel agreed, "That would likely have been awkward."

"I wouldn't stop you now," Santana said, only half joking, which was fortunate since Rachel sprung from her seated position in an instant, mashing their lips together and toppling the both of them over backwards onto the bed. Santana's arms instinctively wrapped themselves around Rachel's back pulling the smaller girl flush against her. Rachel braced herself on her elbows on either side of Santana's head. This time Santana wasted no time seeking entrance into Rachel's mouth, and Rachel didn't hesitate a second in letting her in. When their tongues slid along one another's, Santana was certain that she was dreaming. This sensation was too amazing to be real she thought. She gripped the girl tighter in an effort to convince herself that it was real. She slid her hands down to Rachel's waist and slowly slipped her fingers up under the hem of her sweater. The smaller girl sighed at the touch. In return she moved her left knee between Santana's legs and moved her left hand down to caress the Latina's muscular thigh. Santana was quickly having trouble maintaining her composure.

The girls were suddenly shocked apart as Maria Lopez loudly cleared her throat, leaning against the door frame. "Mamá! Knock!" Santana shouted as Rachel quickly moved off of her.

"I did knock," she countered, "and I distinctly heard someone say yes. I see now that you weren't talking to me."

"Mamá, I can explain…"

"Save it, Santana," Maria interrupted, "You're both smart enough girls to know your limits. Keep your clothes on and your hands over the clothes while I'm in the house and sit down and have a conversation with your papa so he doesn't find out like this. Buenas noches, niñas" She walked off without another word.

Rachel bolted out of the bed after her catching up with her just outside the older Latina's bedroom door. She said, "Está realmente bien con esto?"

"Ella es mejor contigo que sin ti. Sé que va a ser bueno para ella, sólo asegúrese de que es bueno para usted también," Maria replied looking Rachel deep in the eyes.

"Yo quiero, mamá." Maria cupped Rachel's cheek and kissed her on the forehead before pushing into her bedroom. Rachel turned and walked back to Santana's room. She found Santana sitting on her bed looking at her phone.

"Brittany's calling," she said. Rachel just nodded. Santana answered the call and quickly switched to speakerphone. "What's up, Britts?"

"I'm not interrupting sexy times, am I?" she asked.

"I wouldn't have answered the phone if you were," Santana replied.

"Good, I wanna come see you guys," Brittany said.

Santana looked to Rachel who nodded vigorously as she quickly crossed the room and lay back down. "Um, okay." No sooner had the words left Santana's mouth than the girls heard the front door open and close, then one of the stairs creaking as someone move up the staircase, and a moment later Brittany appeared in the doorway.

"Are you guys girlfriends, yet?" the blond asked as she too climbed onto the bed shedding her shoes and jacket all the while. She curled up beside Rachel, wrapping the diva's left arm around herself.

"No," Santana said. Brittany looked at her confused. "I have to sing to her and take her out on an adequately impressive first date before I'm allowed to ask her to be my girlfriend." Rachel looked at the Latina in stunned surprise. "What? Like I don't know you? You think I don't know your requirements of courtship?" Santana then lay down on Rachel's right side and Rachel wrapped Santana in her right arm and let out a deep sigh of contentment.

"Hey, Britt," Rachel said, "Do you remember the first night I came over here?"

"Sugar!"

"Spice!"

"And Everything Nice!"

**A/N: So I really like this story and I want to do more with it, but I already have two on-going stories that I'm trying to update frequently, so what I think I'm going to do with this story is let this be the end of "Tell Me Why" and whenever the mood strikes me or if I need something to break my writer's block (which is what this was originally for) then I'll write another one or two shot involving some combination of these characters. If you want to keep up with them, tag me as Author Alert/Favorite. Thanks for reading.**


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